Russian sports policy has achieved another success in chess. The World Chess Federation FIDE has decided to readmit Russian teams. At the general assembly held online, 61 associations voted in favor of the Russian Chess Federation’s proposal. The 51 votes against came mostly from Europe. The national symbols of Russia are now permitted again in youth tournaments. Whether the Russian flag will also be shown and the Russian anthem played in adult competitions should be clarified in coordination with the IOC.
The President of the German Chess Federation, Ingrid Lauterbach, considers this reservation to be window dressing. “The IOC will not answer that because chess is not an Olympic event.” She speaks of an absurd vote in which two partially contradictory motions were approved. Lauterbach cites the clearest violation of the rules of procedure as the secret vote, as requested by Russia. Several associations are now considering a lawsuit before the CAS Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the associated costs are high.
Arkady Dvorkovich, the former Russian prime minister who has been FIDE president since 2018, is sharply criticized by Lauterbach for his management of the collection: “Dvorkovich said at the beginning that he was neutral, but then he represented Russia’s position in detail.” He also allowed a Russian lawyer to speak who had no right to speak. The night before the meeting, Dvorkovich had a legal opinion against discrimination against Russian athletes sent to all delegates. The author, the supposedly neutral Swiss lawyer Claude Ramoni, has represented the Russian Olympic Committee for at least six years.
The president will be up for election in 2026
The reauthorization was welcomed by Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as can be seen in one of three reports from the Russian news agency TASS about the decision. In recent months, Russian teams competing under the FIDE banner won the U-16 Olympics in Colombia, the Disabled Chess Olympiad in Kazakhstan and the Women’s World Team Championship in Spain.
Each success received widespread attention in the Russian media. The way is now clear for Russia to take part in the Chess Olympiad in September 2026 in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
The president is also up for election there. As early as 2023, FIDE lifted the two-term limit introduced by Dvorkovich himself. So far everything indicates that the 53-year-old professional politician will run for four more years. Only one other Russian is being discussed as an alternative, the financial entrepreneur Timur Turlow, who took up Kazakh citizenship in 2022.
Since then, his company Freedom Finance has been the main sponsor of FIDE and the Kazakh Chess Federation, which he leads. Turlow has recently sponsored the Austrian Chess Federation and is president of the newly founded World School Chess Association. He is also financing the next major FIDE competition, the World Cup Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, where he recently invested in an AI center. Turlow’s involvement in chess is estimated at twenty million euros annually.
In order for chess to escape the Russian sphere of influence, Lauterbach would like a FIDE president from the West. So far there isn’t even a candidate in sight.
